Before the Storm
by Wind6
Summary: This is the story of Alanna’s childhood in Trebond, ending at the time Alanna, the First Adventure begins. It is my first story on FanFiction.net, so please review and tell me if I should keep going. Part one up.
1. Prologue: Birth and Death

AN- This is my first story, and it will not be long, five chapters at most. It is the story of Alanna's childhood in Trebond, ending at the time_ Alanna, the First Adventure_ begins. 

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Chapter Notes: The first chapter is a short prologue from the point of view of Alanna's father. I seem to remember mention of this in the book, but I can't find it now, so if I've made any mistakes, please let me know. I would also like to know the name of Alanna's mother, if anyone knows it. Please review and tell me if it should be continued.

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Disclaimer: This is the one and only disclaimer I will write. I do not own any of Tamora Pierce's characters, places, or ideas.

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Before the Storm:

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Prologue: Birth and Death

"Sir Alan," the servant said, alerting the man who sat buried in his book outside the door. 

He was nervous, as he waited, and was trying not to be, trying to forget what was going on around him. 

"What is it?" he asked the servant, rising to his feet and pacing nervously across the hall.

"Your wife has given birth, Sir. Twins. But- she is very weak. She is calling for you. Maude says she is close to death." Maude. She was the village healing woman, and she was overseeing his wife's birth only because she herself had asked it. He did not trust her Gift- it was not nearly as strong as that of the well-trained healer of the palace, or his own for that matter, but he did trust his wife's judgement, and had let the woman stay. He walked into the room where his wife had just given birth. He knew, before he had even entered, that it was too late. Sorrow hung heavy in the room, like a thick blanket. He saw tears falling on the faces of all present, but he could not cry- not yet. Maude came forward.

"She is dead, Sir Alan. But- the children are fine- healthy, a boy and a girl. Will you name then now?"

A boy and a girl. He remembered his wife's wish that if there was a boy, he be named after a long dead and well-remembered cousin of hers, Thom. "All right, then," he said, turning to Maude, afraid that tears and sadness would choke up his voice- but they did not. "They boy's name is Thom. And the girl's-" He stopped himself. He had been about to hear his wife's name come from his lips. But if he used her name, every time he looked at his daughter, he would not be seeing her, but his wife. His life would be a memory, not reality. He could not bring himself do it, for the girl's sake and his own. "The girl's name is- Alanna."

"Very well." Maude nodded and left the room, the others behind him, leaving the Lord of Trebond to face his grief alone.


	2. Part One

**AN- **This is my first story, and it will not be long, five chapters at most. It is the story of Alanna's childhood in Trebond, ending at the time_Alanna, the First Adventure_begins. 

**Notes on this Chapter**: The twins are seven, and I think they sound much older. Let me just say that they are very mature for their age. (Translation- I couldn't get them to say what I wanted to if they were talking like seven-year-olds.) The ending is very abrupt, but it was so long I just wanted to get it _over_ so I could upload it. And yes it is very long, and I plan to make all of my chapters long, but I can make them shorter if you like. 

**Chapter Summaries:**

One- _Prologue- Birth and Death_. Alanna's birth and her mother's death, from Lord Alan's point of view.

Two- _Part One._ The story of why Alanna so feared the Gift in the early parts of _The Song of the Lioness _and tells the story of Alanna's Lady Lessons,' and her teacher, Liandra of Tirragen.

**Reviewer Notes:**

flowa-_ Thanks, I'm glad you liked it._

Googlepuss-_ I did as you suggested and I now accept anonymous reviews. Thank you for mentioning the error- I didn't mean to make it seem that Lord Alan hated his Gift or the Gift in general beforehand, just that he was untrusting of Maude. Thank you very much for the review._

Forget-me-not-_ I do plan describe both the cherry tarts and the incident with Lady Catherine, but not in detail (I won't devote entire chapters to them.) I will do more then just mention them though_**.**

**Before the Storm:**

_Part One_

"Yer father wants t' see you. The both of you, actually." The red-haired, violet-eyed child jumped, startled, and turned to face Coram, the soldier who had served her family for as long as she could remember. She but the bow she had been trying to string on the ground and gave him a wide-eyed, innocent look.

"You won't tell on me, will you Coram?" she asked, a pleading tone in her soft voice. 

He sighed. "I couldn't. Yer father'd be as angry with me as he'd be with you. But ye know I really should." He bent and picked up the bow she had dropped. "Wish yer brother wanted t' learn this thing as much as you do." So do I, Alanna thought. No, I wish _I _was Thom, and that Father and Coram _wanted_ me to learn weaponry. 

Aloud she said, "What does Father want?" Coram only shrugged in reply. She followed him to her father's study, where Thom already waited, playing with a scrap of paper on her father's desk. 

"There you are, Alanna," Lord Alan said after Coram had left, his voice quiet as always: quiet and stern and somewhat sad. "I've been meaning to talk to you two. You both turned seven a few weeks ago, is that not right?" Alanna nodded, but Thom simply ignored his father, who didn't seem to notice. "It's time you both started readying for the time when you-" he pointed to Thom- "will go the palace and become and knight, and 

you-" he pointed at Alanna- "will go the palace and become a lady. Thom, Coram will begin to teach you the weaponry that you should know by the time you are sent off to become a page, and- Alanna, I've arranged for a woman from the palace to come and teach you the arts of being ladylike- not those you'll learn at the convent of course, but the ones they'll _believe_ you already have." Alanna winced inwardly. The convent and becoming a lady- all that had seemed so far off. It's only four more years, she realized now. And with this- these _lady lessons_, it'll seem like no time at all. Thom, sitting next to Alanna, seemed similarly distressed, but Lord Alan paid them no attention. He seemed determined to give his speech and have them gone. He had always seemed uncomfortable around them, and Alanna never knew why- it couldn't have anything to do with their personalities, as he hardly paid attention to those. But he was talking again.

"Is this all clear to both of you?" The children were silent. "Good. Meet me here at this time tomorrow. Both of your tutors will be here, so be prepared. You may go." They got up and left the room. Outside Thom looked at Alanna, his eyes, violet to match hers, were grim. 

"Tomorrow? Tomorrow? How can he do this to us- now?" His tone was angry, and could have been defined as yelling had it not been so quiet. Both twins were careful, close to their father's study as they were, and had learned to be quiet. "Meet me at this time tomorrow," he said mockingly. "At least you know nothing of this- woman from the palace.' I've known Coram-"

"Of course I know something of her," Alanna's voice was at least as angry as her brother's was. "I know she'll be stupid, and keep at me till I do everything right, which I never will, and that she'll be oh- ladylike. She'll do everything they want me to do, that I _don't_ want to do."

"But I _hate_ Coram," said Thom. "And I _know_ I hate him, and he hates me, and I won't be able to learn _anything_, even if I did try or want to-"

"But- how can you _not _want to? Not want to learn how to fight- not want to-"

"We've been through this before, Alanna. Those are questions I can't answer, just as you can't answer: How _can _you want to learn how to fight?' Let's just not talk about it." 

***

The next morning came, and Alanna and Thom were waiting in their father's study when he came in, leading Coram and a small, delicate lady in a pale-pink, lace covered dress. "This is Thom," he was telling the lady, "Coram will be teaching him- and this is Alanna. Alanna- this is Lady Liandra of Tirragen. She will be your teacher." The woman- Liandra- looked Alanna up and down, taking in her startling red hair and violet eyes without blinking. 

"Good day, Alanna," she said, trying, obviously, to show Alanna by example the correct way to greet one for the first time. Alanna, feeling annoyed, simply ignored her, as much as Thom had done the day before. "Can you sew at all?" She had given up quickly on trying to make an example of herself- a good sign. Perhaps she would simply grow tired of Alanna and leave her to her own devices when she was supposed to be having her lessons.' 

"Why don't I show you to the sewing room," Lord Alan suggested, trying to hide his eagerness to be rid of- who? Liandra? The children? Any company at all? Alanna did not even try to guess. Together, she and Liandra followed him down the hallway, leaving Thom and Coram to stare at each other in silence. "Here you are," Alanna's father said, leaving them at the door to the bright but empty room. Lord Alan did not have many female relatives living with him in Trebond, for which Alanna was thankful, especially now that there was no one to see her making a fool of herself trying to sew. 

"Well," Liandra said. "You never answered my question before we were interrupted. Can you sew at all?"

Alanna stared straight into her eyes before answering. "No," she said bluntly.

"The correct response would be No, Lady Liandra, I cannot.'"

"I'm glad to know that."

"Now say it."

"No, Lady Liandra, I cannot."

"Now we will try again. Can you sew at all?"

"No." 

The small woman looked straight at her. "Your father has given me permission to punish you if you should cause me trouble." She removed a ribbon from her elaborate hair decoration and snapped it across Alanna's hand, bringing tears to the girl's eyes. "Now: Can you sew at all?"

"No, Lady Liandra, I cannot." Alanna practically spat the words.

"Very good. Now we will work on the way to say the words. You will be polite, and your voice should be mild and calm"

***

A few days later Alanna was talking to Thom. "I can't bare much more of this," she said grimly. "I think I'm going to run away." Thom burst out laughing. "Thom!" she yelled, infuriated.

"It was just so funny the way you said itBut I feel the same way. This can't go on. Coram's telling me at every turn how it's such a shame that a girl can ride, shoot, anything- better than I can." 

Alanna grinned at that. "Then that's my revenge for getting laughed at. I was right about Lady Liandra. Every time I do something wrong, she slaps me across my hand with one of her hair ribbons and it hurts!" She rubbed her sore hand in memory of the pain. Thom winced in mock-sympathy. "It does hurt. You should _see_ her hair ribbons. They're so heavy and- it just _hurts_. I'd like to do to you some time, and see what you think." 

"No, don't!" Thom feared the prospect of getting hurt, even if he believed his sister was being over-dramatic. That was one of the reasons he didn't want to be a knight in the first place- what was the point of whacking people with sticks and shooting them with arrows when you could just blast the with Gift, without getting hurt yourself? If he had envied Alanna before for not having lessons with Coram, he certainly didn't now. "Well- it's time for our lessons.'" He looked at his sister. "Better get going. Don't want to be slapped with a hair-ribbon for lateness."

"_Thom_!" But before he could reply, she was gone, for although he had meant the comment as a joke, she had taken it seriously. 

"Good day to you, Alanna," Liandra said when she arrived.

"Good day, Lady Liandra," she replied sullenly. 

"I believe you are late."

"I'm sorry, Lady Liandra." Unless her teacher decided to go off about tone of voice again, it was safe to keep her voice sullen.

"Very well. You must work on your sewing. Unlike your manners, it has not improved since I first came here." Alanna looked down at the basket in which lay the tangled mess that was supposed to be her embroidery. Unthinking, she called upon her Gift, letting it untangle the knots that she had spent hours during the days before trying to untie. She was concentrating so hard she didn't notice her teacher's glare until the Lady of Tirragen spoke. "A proper lady does not use her Gift to do something she could do herself. And it is rude to show off in front of another who may or may not have a Gift." Alanna said nothing. "I would like an apology," Liandra continued.

"I apologize for my rudeness, Lady Liandra." She had been surprised, after what had happened, and hardly cared what Liandra thought was rude right now, as long as she didn't get whacked. She did not use her Gift often, and never like this- how it had just _happened_, without her even thinking about it. It wasn't that she would ever have much of a chance to use it. Her father hated it, although she had been trained minimally by Maude, and the training would continue if there was time. Thom often found time, but that was his dream- as much as hers was to become a warrior, he wanted to become a great sorcerer. He would like to hear about this.

  
"Alanna." Her teacher's voice drew her from her thoughts. "Undo what you did to your embroidery and fix it by hand."

"I- I'm not sure if I can, Lady Liandra." On the day before, Liandra had warned her that lying to her would result in punishment, and although a lady might have to lie if the situation was right, she was to young to understand. If she could not lie correctly, she was not to lie at all.

"You fixed it- now _un_fix it!" There was a note of- was it _hysteria_ in Liandra's voice?

"Are you scared of the Gift?" Alanna blurted out. Why had she said that? Lady Liandra would certainly be mad now, if she wasn't already

"How dare youPut it back." The woman didn't seem that angry, just scared. But very scared "Why aren't you listening to me?" She took off one of her hair-ribbons, but instead of threatening Alanna with it, she aimed it toward the untangled embroidery, as if she could destroy the Gift Alanna had put into fixing it. "Unfix it!" She turned back to Alanna, regaining a slight portion of her calm and sanity. "Get out take that-" she pointed to the embroidery "with you. I will speak to your father." When Alanna did not move, she brandished her hair ribbon. "Out! Now!" And Alanna went.

The first place she tried where the stables, where Coram would be finishing his lesson with Thom. When she arrived, Coram had already left, but Thom was leaning on the wall, apparently deep in thought. "Thom?" she asked.

"Alanna? What happened to your lessons?"

"I- Lady Liandra through me out. I worked some magic on my embroidery- it was all tangled, and so I untangled it. And then- she went crazy. She fears the Gift, I think. She wanted me to undo what I did- I tried, but I couldn't- and she went crazy. At the end she said she would talk to Father and made me leave."

Thom raised a coppery eyebrow. "I somehow think that's the last we'll see of her."

"She has a lot in common with Father," Alanna said, thinking. "They both hate the GiftI don't think he fears it but he definitely doesn't like it." 

Her twin nodded. "Coram doesn't like it either. And he _is_ scared of it. Maybe he should marry Liandra" He burst out laughing, and Alanna couldn't help but join in. The confusion and slight fear of the morning began to wear off. 

***

That afternoon, Lord Alan called her to his study for the second time in a week. Lady Liandra stood there; looking as she had that morning- scared and upset.

"Lady Liandra tells me you were using your Gift on her," Lord Alan said softly. "I'm disappointed in you, Alanna. I should think you would know better, especially after your lessons"

"I wasn't using my Gift on her'!" Alanna blurted out. "I just untangle some knots in my embroidery with it, and she got all scared, and made me leave!"

"Alanna!" His voice was dangerous now.

"I didn't do anything _wrong_!" she said despairingly.

"Lady Liandra is not going to teach you any more. She had decided to leave. I don't want to spend anymore effort on trying to find you a teacher, if this is going to happen." Well if that's all he's going to doAlanna thought, and was slightly happier. "And you will be confine to the sewing room for a while, until you can teach yourself how to sew, and see what a benefit having a tutor _is_. And you are forbidden to use your Gift in this house. _Ever_." She blinked. Confine to the sewing room? For a while? How long was a while? And forbidden to use her Gift She didn't use it much anyway, but how could he? Why was he _doing_ this to her? It was Liandra's fault she had been scared, not her own. This was possibly even worse than the lessons

"Father, please I'll apologize to Li-Lady Liandra; I won't use my Gift in- _ever_. But- I don't need- I know how to sew-"

"That is enough, Alanna. You'll do as I say. Thom, too, will not be allowed to use his Gift, and will be practicing his weaponry when he is not working with Coram, if you think that is unfair." Of _course_ it's unfair, she wanted to say. But not because I'm not getting the same treatment as Thom, but because _I didn't do anything wrong_!

She went to bed tired and miserable that night, wishing she had never used her Gift at all, wishing that Liandra had simply slapped with a hair ribbon for using her Gift and then gone back to the criticizing her sewing. She didn't know how long she lay there, wishing she could change the past, but when she finally fell asleep, she dreamed. 

_A woman with emerald eyes and skin so fair as to be pure white stood before her. "Who-who are-" she asked, but before she could get any further, the woman interrupted her._

_"I think that you know who I am, my chosen." Her voice was like a pack of hounds in full cry, like the wind blowing through the treetops, soft yet clear and ringing, easy to understand. She couldn't be- but she was. And she was right, Alanna did know her. She was the Great Mother Goddess, chief goddess in the Tortallan Pantheon, protector of women. But why was she here- now-_

_Alanna remembered the day, how Liandra had left and how her father had punished her for it. How her life had changed on the morning when her father had called her and Thom in and told them that they would have lessons every day until she went to convent and until Thom became a page. "Why is everything going wrong?" she asked softly, wondering how she had the courage to speak to a goddess. But then, fear had never been one of her faults. "Am I going to go to the convent and become a lady"_

_"No," the Goddess said. "The convent is not your fate. Although- it would do you good to learn patience and the noble-bred ladies are not all-bad."_

_"What is going to happen- now?" she said, relieved the Mother was not angered at her and was answering her questions. _

_"That I cannot say. But I think that if you want it to, life will turn out well for you."_

_And the dream ended._

Alanna woke up the next morning, remembering none of it, but feeling refreshed and relieved. If she had, she would have wondered at the Goddess calling her my chosen,' but she did not, and so nothing came of it. She went to the sewing room and tried to bear it, and at the end of the day, her father came to her and told her he'd been harsh, and that although she should still visit the sewing room once in a while, she was not required to. And to be fair, he had changed Thom's lessons to once a week. But Alanna had learned to fear her Gift. She feared it as so many others did: Liandra, Coram, her father- so it did not seem like such a bad thing. She had no idea that later in her life, using her Gift would be a matter of life and death for one of the people closest to her. 


End file.
